Hope you are well and settling into the New Year with HOPE and OPTIMISM. Not sure about you but it takes me a while to settle into the quieter winter season.

Drawing from the wisdom of Chinese Medicine, Winter is the most YIN time of year. Yin energy is all about going inward, stillness, rest, slowing way down. Not easy for a recovering "busy bee."

I know I'm not alone. Maybe you're an over-achiever too? There's a huge cultural resistance to slowing down and going inward. It's not easy to flip the switch in our predominately YANG culture. Yang is outward energy and all about getting things done. ​YIN & YANG are BOTH necessary. They're bound together and cannot exist without each other or stand alone. We need to maintain a BALANCE of both energies. Being busy sometimes balanced with rest and renewal.

It's not easy for many of us to shift gears and move over to the slow lane for awhile but it's important and necessary. It's non-negotiable. It may appear that nothing is happening but trust me, there is.

The following quote from Albert Camus has been a longtime favorite and I only recently discovered that there are more lines to it than the one about winter that I have loved so much.

In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.

In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.

In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.

I realized through it all, that....

IN THE MIDST OF WINTER, I FOUND THERE WAS, WITHIN ME, AN INVINCIBLE SUMMER.

And that makes me happy...for it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger- something better, pushing right back.